The Transport Workers Union of Australia (TWU) today welcomed the Federal Government’s commitment to introduce legislation in the final sitting week of Parliament to rectify the defective and dangerous system of truck driver remuneration across the country and to address the economic pressures that the major industry clients place on the industry.

The announcement was made at a Safe Rates Summit held in Parliament House yesterday morning. The Federal Minister for Transport, the Hon Anthony Albanese, said the Government would introduce legislation this week to establish a new tribunal to make determinations about ‘safe rates’ of payment throughout the trucking industry.

“Trucking is Australia’s deadliest industry. For far too long, truck drivers, whether they be owner drivers or employee drivers, have been squeezed by large and powerful clients to meet absurd deadlines, to work for rates that are too low or to endure hours and hours of unpaid waiting.  These deadly practices threaten the safety of not just the driver, but other road users,” TWU National Secretary Tony Sheldon, said today.

"All of the evidence tells us that we need an independent tribunal to establish and maintain enforceable rates and related conditions for all truck drivers and to create binding obligations, as necessary, on transport supply chain participants such as the major industry clients.

“This reform recognises that the concentrated market power of the likes of the major retailers compromises safety and compels less powerful players in the supply chain to accept rates of payment that barely cover costs and places deadly pressures on drivers."

Over 300 people are killed each year in Australia due to truck-related crashes, according to the National Transport Commission.

The Summit heard from prominent academics, including Professor Michael Belzer from Wayne State University and executives of transport organisations and Ministers Albanese and Shorten.

The summit also heard the ‘on the road’ views of truck drivers and small, medium and large company operators who have witnessed first-hand the dangers and the tragedies that the current system sustains. They uniformly supported increased professionalization in the industry and feared for the future safety of the industry if the issue of safe rates went unchecked.

“Establishing Safe Rates is about all industry participants coming together to do something about the downward spiral which is forcing drivers to the extremities of the law and beyond to the limits of endurance just to make a living for their families.

“Safe Rates is not about taking competition out of the system. This is a highly competitive industry and always will be. This is about putting safety into the industry.

“Good operators like Lindsay Fox, Ron Finemore and Australian Container Freight Services have accepted the importance of safe rates and want to ensure that safe rates and conditions exist across the entire industry." Said Tony.

It is expected that the legislation will be introduced later this week and debate will resume early in 2012.

Summit Participants

Drivers

·       Frank Black

·       Mark Trevillian

·       Darrell Haining

·       Euan Scott-Bell

·       Ray Childs

·       Billy Berka

·       John Waltis

Academics

·       Igor Nossar (Chair), Business Outsourcing and Restructuring Regulatory Research Network

·       Professor Michael Belzer, Wayne State University

·       Professor Michael Quinlan, University of New South Wales

·       Professor Ann Williamson, University of New South Wales

Industry

·       Paul Ryan, Australian Road Transport Industrial Organisation and Victorian Transport Association

·       Philip Lovel AM, CEO Victorian Transport Association

·       Tim Squires, Transport Company Director, Queensland Trucking Association & Australian Trucking Association

·       Laurie D’Apice, President of Human Resources, Linfox

·       Philip Halton, Executive Director, Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association

·       Arthur Tzaneros, Founder, Australian Container Freight Services